


Friends From the City

by TooManyDucks



Series: Ruckus in The City [1]
Category: TUGS (TV)
Genre: Everyone Has Issues, Everyone suddenly became human one day, Except Grampus can shift between human and submarine, F/M, Human AU, Intense dramatic scenes, Izzy shows up at some point, Lucille works at Lucky's Yard at first, Seriously Warrior is a bean in this, She's also kind of a jerk at first, Sunshine and Warrior are too precious for this world, Ten Cents likes her so he starts acting more cheeky than usual, The Author Regrets Nothing, Top Hat is the worst drag queen ever, Top Hat isn't a jerk he just really needs a hug, You can have friends of the opposite gender too you know >:|, based on some comics I saw on Deviantart, everyone is human, this was a dare >:0, well technically there's people instead of vehicles but I don't care
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-06-26 15:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15666501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyDucks/pseuds/TooManyDucks
Summary: Human AU (except Grampus can shift between half submarine and half human)Ten Cents and Sunshine discover something (or rather someone) pretty interesting while making a delivery to Lucky's Yard. This someone however, has nowhere else to work now that an old building she used to work in, was turned to ashes during WWI.





	1. We Need To Talk

It was a usual sunny morning at the Star Docks, everyone else had received their orders for the day, except Sunshine and Ten Cents were still waiting to be told what to do. "Right, Ten Cents, you and Sunshine are to receive a fuel supply within a few minutes, then you must get it to Lucky's where a young lady should be there to bring it inside for you." Captain Star explained the orders to the two young workers as they did just that, however, they didn't know there was anyone else that was meant to receive supplies from the fleet, so they were both understandably confused. 

Once they got to Lucky's however, sure enough, there was a girl standing there impatiently. Her outfit resembled something a sailor would wear and her short hair was pulled into pigtails, she was also smaller than Ten Cents, yet taller than Sunshine, but she didn't seem happy to see them at all. Instead of greeting them, she just waved her fingers for them to move closer, then she lifted the supply up with no problem. "Er.. thanks a lot, love!" Ten Cents called after her, only to receive an impatient sigh in response. Then of course, Zorran showed up with another fuel supply. 

"Hah! Havin' some trouble are ya, Star?" Zorran sneered at Ten Cents, who simply huffed in response. "Oi! Lucille! 'Nother supply's here waitin' for ya!" he called out. The girl from before seemingly named 'Lucille' came back out and happily greeted Zorran. "Good day to you, Zorran..!" She chirped, completely ignoring Ten Cents and Sunshine at the same time as she brought the supply into the building and came back out.

Several things crossed Ten Cents' mind: 'why is she so friendly with Zorran of all tugs- I mean people??' 'is she siding with the Z-Stacks?' He was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Zorran leave and Lucille sitting down, staring at the water as if it were hypnotizing her, when really, much more was going on. 

It was like it only happened last week: 

-WWII, November 15th, 1917-  
Lucille was struggling to revive one of her workmates and closest friends who had fainted due to smoke inhalation, when suddenly she realized she needed to leave or else she would die. She ran away from the burning building as fast as she could, only when the explosion hit, a flaming piece of debris struck her in the arm, leaving a scar just above her wrist. A few years later, she would come to work part time at Lucky's Yard, then meeting a strangely affable man who she would later know as Zorran from the Zero Fleet. 

-present time-

Lucille was just staring at the water, and had been doing so for a while now, to the point Ten Cents became worried. "Oi, what's goin' on in there??" he shook her gently, to which she jumped a bit and stood back up. "I thought I told you lot to beat it!" she became hostile once again. "We was just tryin' ta help ya sence you was starin' ahead fer a whoile..!" Sunshine said in defense, to which the other raised her eyebrow in response. 

"Come with me, I'll explain everything." Lucille said in a rushed voice. 

-time skip to after the explanation brought to you by Chica-

"Goodness..! That sounds awful..." Sunshine gasped. Then again, it made sense that Lucille would be paranoid and aggressive after such an event that had occurred. Then, Ten Cents got an idea. "Hey, I think I've got it, why don't ya come and try workin' for Captain Star?" he suggested, to which Lucille sighed and pushed one of her pigtails behind her shoulders. "I wish I could, but I can't, I already agreed to quit at Lucky's tomorrow to try and work with the Zero Fleet.." she said with a nervous (seemingly) look. 

"Wait, but what if you were dismissed?" Sunshine said. That certainly gained Lucille's interest. "Dismissed? How?" she asked curiously. "I dunno, maybe try actin' real clumsy when you're doin' a job. That usually gets Captain Zero's temper goin'." Ten Cents pointed out. "That's a fine idea, Ten Cents, it might just work! I'll see you back at the pier tomorrow and we'll figure out what to do when I'm dismissed." Lucille seemed a lot more open to talk now that she actually got to know her new friends a little better.


	2. Unpleasantly Pleasant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Z-Stacks' affable behavior is usually too good to be true. Lucille learns that the hard way. Luckily, she gets help from the right tugs- er, people.

Now, working around Bigg City, one would think anyone, especially Lucille, would be used to getting up early in the morning. But not at early as 5:30 in the morning, especially not by Zorran of all people. So Lucille was just sleeping peacefully, until she heard frantic knocking at the door. "Oi! Sleeping Beauty! You'll make us late!" Zorran's voice called from outside. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Lucille replied as she put on her usual uniform and shoes before coming outside. 

"There you are, I was wondering when you'd be finished! Now c'mon!" Zorran practically dragged her along to the pier outside of Captain Zero's office. Once there, Captain Zero was ready to introduce Lucille to the others after he was through giving (more or less forcing) the others jobs to do. "Now listen up ya lousy lot! I've managed to get meself a new worker. This is Lucille. This is Zip and Zug, Zak, Zebedee, and I see ya already met Zorran. Now all of ya, get to work!!" he shouted through the loudhailer in his office window. 

"Over here, new girl!" Zebedee called Lucille over. "A'ight, so we gotta get this fuel supplies over to the loading area SAFELY." Zak explained the job to Lucille, who remembered what the plan was: act clumsy, get an earful from Captain Zero, once dismissed, meet Sunshine and Ten Cents at the main pier. It all seemed rather difficult at the same time however. 

-a few minutes later at the loading area-

'right, time to be troublesome.' Lucille thought to herself, before 'accidentally' tripping and causing the supplies to become severely damaged before either Zak or Zebedee could help load it (since they were all carrying it at the same time). "Look what you've done, ya klutz! Captain Zero's gonna have our heads for this!" Zak shouted, although he sounded more panicked than angry. While Zebedee was confused on the inside, he had to keep acting angry and apprehensive about the current situation. 

On the way back, Zorran stopped by, although mostly just to mock the three for screwing up earlier. "Haha! What a bunch of scatterbrained fools! Captain Zero's gonna give ya all an earful for this, ya know!" he sneered, before continuing on his way. But sure enough, that's exactly what ended up happening. Captain Zero practically flew off the handle after his workers explained what happened. He also ended up firing and dismissing Lucille as a result, although a couple of the others couldn't help but notice she seemed a bit too casual about it. 

-time skip to around the evening brought to you by 21-

"I told ya, Ten Cents, the plan worked! Or else she wouldn't be standin' there." Sunshine remarked upon seeing Lucille in the exact area she was told to meet him and Ten Cents after being dismissed by Captain Zero. "Huh, will ya look at that.." Ten Cents seemed surprised the plan ended up working after all, made sense because of Captain Zero being known for having a hair-trigger temper.

"Hey there, Ten Cents, Sunshine. I never thought I'd have to go through two different jobs in a day." Lucille said thoughtfully. "Well, here comes a third, and hopefully it'll stick this time." Ten Cents said, albeit a bit jokingly. 

-at the dock outside Captain Star's office-

"Ah, back early I see. Who's that with you, Ten Cents?" Captain Star quickly took notice of the small girl standing in between Ten Cents and Sunshine. "Oh, this is Lucille, she er... lost her job at Lucky's Yard and she was wonderin' if there was any room for another t- er.. person here." Ten Cents explained as reasonably as possible. "Well.. as long as she isn't like Boomer, I don't see why not. She'll have to do simple deliveries for now, though." Captain Star said, much to the others' delight.

"Yes sir, I promise I'll work really hard!" Lucille chirped. Her miserable day became a good day within a matter of minutes, and it was thanks to a well thought out plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaa stay tuned mah ducklings :0


	3. New Girl in Port

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Captain Star announces Lucille will be working with the Star Fleet from now on, the others are a bit skeptical due to how mean she was in the past, but eventually they'll have to let bygones be bygones.

The next morning went much more smoothly than yesterday, mostly because Lucille didn't have Zorran at her door, forcing her to get dressed while half asleep. But more importantly because she felt she was actually going to like her new job. Once she was dressed, she sauntered towards the pier, since Captain Star had told her yesterday to wait there for someone to greet her and explain what her job for the day was going to be. 

-meanwhile-

Captain Star had told his fleet workers about Lucille being a new worker, although they were understandably skeptical about it, considering how she had treated them in the past. Little did they know however, Ten Cents had actually managed to get her to turn over a new leaf. In the meantime however, him and Sunshine had to go and get her so they could make their first deliveries.

-time skip to about 12 seconds brought to you by Zip trying to be "cool"-

Lucille eventually got bored of waiting for her friends to show up, so she sat down and stared ahead, only to be interrupted when a flurry of bubbles from the water came up, to which she let out a surprised yelp in response. The submarine (usually known as Grampus) came up to the surface a moment later. "Don't be frightened, Lucille! It's just me!" Lucille sighed in relief as it was just Grampus, who would occasionally visit from time to time. 

"Oh, hey there, Grampus." she greeted dryly. "What are you waiting all the way out here for? Shouldn't you be working at Lucky's?" Grampus questioned curiously, since he usually saw her working at Lucky's Yard and not near where Ten Cents and Sunshine were usually seen working. "Oh, they let me go, so I'm working for Captain Star now. I'm just waiting for Sunshine and Ten Cents to come by so we can start working." Lucille explained.

Eventually, Ten Cents and Sunshine did arrive, only for them to see that Grampus had been keeping her company in the meantime. "Howdy bang..! I've been waiting for you for ages!" for once (other than yesterday), Lucille seemed genuinely happy to see them. "Well it wasn't THAT hard to find ya, there aren't too many female workers around here other than Sally, Lillie and Pearl.." Ten Cents remarked. 

While it was sadly true that there weren't too many girls around the port, maybe that would change someday. It also explained why the others were surprised to hear that a girl (especially a child other than Ten Cents and Sunshine) would be working for the Star Fleet. In the meantime however, they had a couple of important deliveries to do at the moment. 

"Anyways, I'll see you later, Grampus..!" Lucille called as she and her new friends went to go and deliver fuel to Sally. "Right, so we have t'deliver this fuel to Sally, and some more ta Lillie later on." Sunshine explained simply. "Hm, seems easy enough, except we'll have to do more walking..." Lucille groaned slightly. "Ah cheer up, Lucille, it's for a good reason." Ten Cents teased. 

-later (again)-

"Hello, Ten Cents, Sunshine- who's your new friend?" Sally greeted happily. "Oh, this here's Lucille, she's gonna be helpin' with deliveries from now on." Ten Cents explained casually. "Well its been great, thanks for the delivery, you three!" Sally chirped. "See ya soon, Sally." Sunshine called as him, Ten Cents, and Lucille headed back to get another fuel supply for Lillie. 

Warrior happened to be around, just coming back from garbage duty. "Oh, hey Ten Cents, Sunshine. Huh, Is that Lucille? Hm.. 'bit smaller than I imagined-" he said, although a bit worried he would make her angry. Only his sentence was cut off by him tripping over and dropping a box he was carrying. "Howdy bang, you alright?? Here, let me help you.." Lucille handed Warrior the box he was holding previously, back to him. 

"Oh, er.. thanks. I've got to go now, see you all later!" Warrior called to his friends, although he was genuinely confused as to why Lucille helped him out, when she usually harshly scolded him for being clumsy. In the meantime, there was lighthouse fuel to deliver, or else no ships would get into port safely, which of course, would end terribly for pretty much everyone. 

Later that evening however, Zip and Zug needed a fuel supply to deliver to a customer. The only problem was, there weren't any left for them to take at the moment, and if there was it would take a very long time to prepare, so they had to think quickly before coming up with an idea: they would just have to steal the supply the three 'switchers' had while they were occupied. "That's a great i-" Zip started before Zug quickly shut him up. "Stupid! They're going to catch us if you don't pipe down..!" Zug whispered/shouted. "Oh, I forgot." Zip replied. 

A moment later, while the three 'switchers' were occupied in a conversation, Zip and Zug managed to steal their fuel supply before sneaking off to go and deliver it. Then when the three arrived at the lighthouse, there was a problem: the light was going dim, which meant it could go out at any second. "Oh.. thank goodness you're here! Wait, where's the fuel supply?" Lillie asked upon not seeing it with them. 

"Whatdya mean? It's right he- Oh.." the three preteens exchanged terrified glances for three reasons: first, because the light had actually gone out. Second, because Captain Star would be angry with them. Third, because in the distance, a tramper was coming into port for some supplies (which was also the job for Big Mac and Warrior (after he had finished garbage duty anyway) to help load supplies into it that evening).

"Howdy bang! What do we do??" Lucille really wasn't prepared for this kind of situation. "Right, everybody calm down, I've got an idea!" Ten Cents explained. "Okay, so Sunshine, you go quickly and get another fuel supply. Lucille, Hercules came back earlier, so we need ya to go and fetch him in case the tramper gets into an accident, I'll stay here 'n keep Lillie company!" Ten Cents explained the plan to everyone. 

Sunshine went as fast as he could to go and get another fuel supply for the lighthouse, while Lucille went to go and find Hercules.

-a few minutes later-

As Lucille was trying to look for Hercules, Grampus surfaced from the water to see what was going on. "Oh hey Grampus, there's an emergency, so I need to know where Hercules is, we need as many hands on deck as possible." Lucille explained urgently. "Ooh! I know where he is! He's somewhere nearby, I can go get him for you if you'd like." Grampus said cheerfully. "Yes please, just hurry!" Lucille replied. 

Soon, Grampus returned with a young man (seemingly in his mid 20's), which Lucille assumed to be Hercules. "Alright, I'll see you guys later." Grampus said before going back underwater. "You must be that new worker Captain Star was talking about, I'm Hercules." Hercules explained. "Pleased to meet you, but there's been an accident, and we need as much help as we can get!" Lucille said quickly. 

"Alright then, sweetheart, lead the way." then Lucille led Hercules to the lighthouse, where Ten Cents and Lillie were waiting. "Oh, thank goodness you're back, Hercules!" Ten Cents called, sounding relieved. "Where's Sunshine?" Lillie asked, wondering where the other 'switcher' was. "Right here, and I'm not alone either." Sunshine had just returned with a fuel supply, along with Zip and Zug. 

"Whatever, we'll deal with those two later, right now we've got to get this tramper off the rocks." Hercules said urgently. Meanwhile, Lillie went to go and refuel the light in the lighthouse. 

Eventually, Hercules, Ten Cents, Lucille, and Sunshine managed to free the tramper from the rocks and the lighthouse was lit up again. "Whew..! C'mon Sunshine, let's tow this thing into port, yeah?" Ten Cents and Sunshine went to tow the tramper into port so Big Mac and Warrior could help load the supplies (which they had been waiting about two hours for) into it.

"Well I helped out today, I hope the others will like me now, and I just hope it makes up for being horrid to them." Lucille mused thoughtfully. "I suppose it'll make up for everything. I'd say you redeemed yourself quite well, m'dear." Hercules remarked. 

-the next morning (again)-

It all turned out good in the end, the tramper had managed to get in and out of port safely, and Lucille managed to earn herself the spot of being the 9th worker of the Star Fleet, along with several new friends. Now what happened to Zip and Zug? Let's just say they got what they deserved, literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, Warrior is a bean. :0


	4. Lost In the City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a heat wave, the others are busy working, until a problem rises, prompting Captain Star to give two of his workers the (usually rare) rest of the day off in order to recover properly. Meanwhile, Top Hat still (somehow) isn't used to being human yet, so he decides to take advantage for the time being.

It was currently over a hundred degrees, and needless to say, nobody was too happy about having to work in that temperature, but they still had important jobs to do, so they didn't exactly have much of a choice. Although O.J's advice of finding some shade from the sun would eventually come in handy. "Try and keep up, Lucille...! I'm.. doin' just as badly as you are right now." Warrior remarked, seeming completely out of breath from walking a long distance in this heat. 

While having two workers on garbage detail made life much easier, it was also a bit of a pain to be in direct sunlight while trying to concentrate on small details. "Know what? How 'bout you just rest? I'll handle the rest from here." Warrior offered graciously. "Whew.. I can't see much." Lucille pointed out in a hushed voice (which wasn't very common for her to do).

After Warrior had finished however, Lucille made a strange sound, almost as if she were about to vomit, but nothing else came out. When she stopped however, Warrior had no idea what to do, so being the good-hearted person he was, he brought the poor girl to Captain Star to explain what had happened. 

-a few minutes later-

"I see.. in that case, Lucille may not be in good condition to be working, so she'll simply have to have the rest of the day off for now." Captain Star explained. "Hear that, Luce? It'll be like a sort of holiday!" Warrior said jokingly to Lucille, who gave a weak 'Yay' in response.

A while later, Lucille was feeling bored and had nothing to do at the moment, that was until another worker she had yet to meet properly, had fainted during a job due to heat exhaustion. 

-a few more minutes later-

After a brief conversation, Lucille learned that this worker's name was Top Hat (which was self explanatory) and he had fainted during a job due to heat exhaustion and dehydration. A while later, Lucille had decided to visit, just because she felt a bit bad for Top Hat at the same time. 

"What are YOU doing here?" he asked with an annoyed tone as soon as Lucille came in. "I was just visiting to make sure you were doing alright, besides, I haven't really got much to do at the moment anyways. Although I WAS thinking about going out for a bit." she explained. That was when Top Hat put his hat over his face and groaned a bit. He was planning on going out as well since he also had the rest of the day off, now he was stuck with a 'switcher', and a supposedly mean one at that. 

"Well, if you're going to the city of all places, you're going to need a loyal companion, it's very dangerous out there I'll have you know." he declared. Lucille simply paused for a moment. "Alright." she said after a moment of awkward silence. 

-20 minutes later-

"Funny, I thought you said it'd be crowded today." Top Hat said thoughtfully. "Well not in this area in particular, and some people have their own jobs to do, it's simple maths really." Lucille remarked. Although the day went rather well for the most part, Top Hat refused to leave Lucille alone, since he figured he was older and that it was his job to keep the small 'switcher' safe from harm. 

Now him and Lucille were doing something rather different, except this something involved Top Hat wearing a dress, which was absolutely hilarious to Lucille (only nobody else knew that). "Lucille please, this will ruin my reputation for sure..!" Top Hat complained. "Oh come now, I'm sure you look great!" Lucille said reassuringly. "Oh fine, but you better not laugh." Top Hat reluctantly came out. Needless to say, he actually didn't look too bad in a dress (for the most part anyway). 

"See? You look great!" Lucille chirped, although she was trying really hard to not make any sound that sounded like laughing. "If you say so. Oh dear, I hope nobody else sees me wearing this or I'll never hear the end of it." Top Hat muttered anxiously as he went to go and put his previous outfit back on, which was much more comfortable in his opinion. 

-so much later that the old author got tired of waiting so they had to hire a new one-

"Oh my.. it's that late already?? We'd better head back to the pier then, how do we get back again?" Top Hat asked Lucille, who simply blushed in response. "I... um, I'm not sure." she said quickly. Now it was Top Hat's turn to blush. "But I- you- I thought you said you've been out in the city before and it's nearly nighttime! What if we get in trouble? How will the others find us? What if-" he spoke rapidly in a panic since he knew all too well how dangerous the city was at night. 

"Get ahold of yourself..! Now if I remember correctly, Hercules said he makes landmarks when he's out at sea so he doesn't get lost coming back.. Let's go and we'll see if we can remember anything from before." Lucille suggested. "Hm, it's worth a try." Top Hat said with a slightly surprised tone. 

-Time skip to whatever time it usually gets dark brought to you by Weird Al-

"I can't see much, this lamppost's flickering isn't helping either... but there's wood we're walking on, so we must be close! I just hope-" Lucille was cut off by Top Hat screaming in surprise. "Top Hat???! Were are you-" she was cut off once again, but this time she had fallen until something caught her hand, preventing her from falling any further. "Don't let go!!" Top Hat cried out to her. 

'Oh dear.. what am I going to do? I can't climb up, I might drop Lucille by accident...' Top Hat seemed conflicted at the moment, that was until he got an idea: Maybe he could try and get Lucille high enough to get back up. "Lucille, I'm going to try and lift you high enough so you can get back up there and help me as well." he explained his plan to the younger girl. "Sounds like a plan." Lucille replied in a shaky voice. 

"Alright, here we go..!" Top Hat managed to get Lucille back up safely while still managing to hold on, although it was clear he ended up hurting himself in the process. "Ugh.... right, give me your hand!" the young platinum blonde called frantically after taking a second to catch her breath. "Ah..! I'm slipping!" Top Hat was panicking as his hands began to slip from the ledge. "Not on my watch...!" Lucille used as much strength as she could muster to get her friend back up, and luckily she did.

"I.. say! That was rather lucky...!" Top Hat breathed out. "Definitely!" came someone else's voice. "Sunshine?? Where'd you and Ten Cents come from?!" Lucille was so surprised by Sunshine and Ten Cents, that she forgot she was out of breath. "We heard you two shoutin' and figured you lot were havin' a squabble or somethin', then we saw ya and Top Hat helpin' each other out." Ten Cents explained. 

"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?" Top Hat said, pouting albeit jokingly. "Nope!" Sunshine said, earning a snicker from everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, as you all can see, I'm a huge sucker for fluffy friendship relationships, stay tuned :0


	5. High Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A storm is coming to Bigg City, and possibly the worst one yet. Captain Star and Captain Zero (including their fleet workers) are helping each other out during the crisis, that is until eventually a tsunami hits, prompting Zorran, Captain Star, Lucille, and Captain Zero to evacuate the area, reluctantly leaving the others to fend for themselves. 
> 
> At the same time however, Lucille finds herself having a PTSD induced anxiety attack, then finally ends up getting the real help she needs.

Surprisingly in the morning, it wasn't sunny like usual, it was cloudy and rather dark. There was a reason however, there was a storm coming, and as a result of which, Captain Star and Captain Zero (along with their fleet workers) had to work together to get everything done before the storm came, seen as it was supposed to be very bad and possibly the worst storm Bigg City's ever had. 

"Right, now that that's out of the way, Ten Cents, you and Sunshine go and deliver an extra fuel supply to Lillie. Lucille, Captain Zero wants you, Zip and Zug to go out answering distress calls and tell us via radio if any of you see anything dangerous." Captain Star explained before Captain Zero spoke up. "Exactly! And I assume NOTHING will go wrong?" Captain Zero said. 

"Yes sir..." the three switchers replied glumly. "Now get going! We need as much time as we can get!" Captain Zero ordered. 

-a few minutes later-

"See anything yet?" Zip asked in a (surprisingly) bored tone. "Be quiet, I'm trying to see.." Zug muttered, clearly mostly just distracted by the sky's scenery rather than the horizon. Eventually, Ten Cents and Sunshine came by to see how things were going. "Heh, looks like you're a Z-Stack for now, huh Luce?" Ten Cents teased. "Oh shut up, you." Lucille said, rolling her eyes. 

"Anyways, heard the lighthouse is locked up, sure hope Lillie's a'ight.." Sunshine said thoughtfully. "Ah, I'm sure she'll be fine, besides, Sally came back earlier so they'll both keep each other company I suppose." Lucille remarked. "Hm, anyways, see you all later, hopefully.." Ten Cents said, whispering the last part a bit to himself before heading back with Sunshine. 

About two hours later, the sky had darkened so much, it seemed as though it was nighttime. "It sure got f-f-freezing all of a sudden!" Zip complained as he shivered violently. "Do you EVER stop complaining??" Lucille asked, clearly irritated with his constant complaining about the weather. "Well I certainly don't know what's gotten your mood all sour, missy!" Zip retorted back. "Um, you guys?" Zug tried to get the squabbling switchers' attention, but failed. 

"Well at least I'm not the one complaining every 15 seconds!" Lucille shot back. "Guys??" Zug tried again to no avail. "I'M complaining???" Zip started before Zug cut him and Lucille off. "Will you shut up and listen?! Look ahead!" Zug handed Lucille the binoculars, which caused her to go pale after seeing why Zug was trying to warn her and Zip. "T-T-T-T...." she started before Zip finally understood what was happening. 

"C-Call Captain Star!!" Zip cried, beginning to hyperventilate. Surprisingly, there was a tsunami coming, and luckily, nobody needed a tow into port. "Sir!! Th-There's a-" Lucille was cut off by Captain Star explaining what was happening. "I know, Captain Zero, Zorran, and I have been helping others to evacuate safely, come meet us near the pier when you can!" Captain Star replied. 

-15 minutes later-

"I've never seen the city this empty before..." Zip said, sounding astonished about how empty the city was, considering it was usually quite full of people. "This way, m'dears!" came the voice of Hercules, who had also came back earlier that day along with Sally. 

The highest place the Stars (along with Zebedee and Zak) could find, was on the top of a hill, which was fairly high and rather far away from the harbor, but at least it'd manage in the meantime. "Some bunker we've got.." Warrior muttered. "It'll have to do in the meantime unless we all want to drown in that tsunami..!" O.J remarked. "The only thing we can do in the meantime is just wait it out." Sunshine pointed out to everyone else. 

The others couldn't help but agree. However, Ten Cents noticed somebody was missing, and it wasn't Zorran, since he knew he was with Captain Star and Captain Zero. "I wonder where Lucille's run off to?" he wondered out loud. "I noticed she ran off somewhere when we exit the port." Zug pointed out thoughtfully. "Cowardly I'd say." Zip added. "It's not being scared, it's just bein' safe!" Ten Cents retorted. 

"Would ya look at that..." Big Mac saw the tsunami in the distance, and was actually quite surprised at how massive it was. "Get to the tent!" Warrior cried, prompting the othere to seek shelter in the tent he'd brought with him. 

(// p.s how and where Warrior got the tent is anyone's guess, also if any of you were expecting him to do the GET TO THE CHOPPAH meme, too bad >:3)

-one tsunami later/meanwhile-

Captain Star and Captain Zero (and occasionally Zorran) were having a casual chat, except something didn't seem right. Captain Star knew Lucille very well, and knew she was quite the chatterbox, only having here there but remaining totally silent felt rather strange to the point he ended up going to see what was wrong. The small girl was lying on her side in a fetal position with a blank expression on her face. 

It was rather heartbreaking to see a usually confident and cheeky child be reduced to this state. "Lucille?" that was all it took for the preteen to sit up quickly, almost as though she were waiting for something to happen. "Is something the matter?" Lucille was confused, she'd never seen Captain Star look this worried before. But then again, she'd only been working for him for a month now, so it made sense for the most part. 

"You've been through World War I, right, sir?" Lucille asked in a hushed voice, which was something she almost never did. "Yes I have. Why?" Captain Star then sat down next to her, seemingly growing more concerned. "Well... I know I said I wasn't ready to talk about it, but I lost a friend during that time. The building I used to work in had caught fire and she didn't make it out alive. I still hear her sometimes... that's why I was so mean to everyone at first when I worked at Lucky's." Lucille explained sadly. 

"Have you ever been in an accident like that, Captain Star..?" she asked with curiosity. Captain Star seemed as though he was about to say something, before he cut himself off and pulled a slightly pained expression. "I understand, there's stuff I don't like to talk about either." Lucille sympathized with Captain Star, since she already seemed to know what was going on. 

"Lucille. Truth be told, I actually knew how irritable you could be before you started working for me. I was just waiting to see if you'd redeem yourself, since nobody acts like that just for the sake of doing it, and you did it. You stepped out and fixed your own problem. And that's how I got over my own matters after the war as well." Captain Star explained, appearing to be very proud of his second youngest switcher for facing her fears. 

"I do believe you're right, sir." Lucille remarked, now her old (or rather new) self again. 

Meanwhile, Zorran and Captain Zero seemed envious, since Zorran was (supposedly) Zero's favorite, although their relationship wasn't as close as Captain Star and his tugs- er, workers. 

-24 hours later-

Around 24 hours later, the Star fleet and the Z-Stacks went back to the harbor to inspect the damage done by the storm (although it was mostly due to the tsunami) and pitched in to help out. 

-a few hours later (again)-

"Oh Ten Cents!~" Sunshine called to his friend, who was checking in on Warrior. "What's- Ah!" Ten Cents nearly fell over in surprise when he saw Lucille (somehow) holding up a jellyfish that ended up in the port from the storm (amongst various other sea creatures). "That's for calling me a Z-Stack!" she said with a laugh as she allowed the (rather slippery) sea creature to get back in the water and find its way back to the depths of the ocean. 

"Talk about a 'sticky situation' eh, Ten Cents?" Sunshine snickered, causing the latter to roll his eyes playfully in response. "Right, Let's get back to work before Captain Star puts us on garbage detail." Ten Cents reminded his friends. 

Later on, Ten Cents saw Lucille sitting at the edge of the pier, not in a state of sadness like last time, but rather in a state of bliss. "What are ya doin' all the way out here for?" he asked curiously as he sat next to her. "I've always admired the scenery, especially at twilight, don't you?" she asked in response. Ten Cents hadn't really thought of that, since he was usually all caught up in work and being cheeky to notice. 

"Well.. now I do." he said with a slight laugh as he put his hand on top of Lucille's, as both of them admired the scenery from the pier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I got nothing, stay tuned though :0


	6. Decommissioned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exhausted after work, Lucille takes a quick power nap, only to have a nightmare about WWI. Luckily, Warrior knows just what to do.
> 
> Sadly, the tugs will be in for a rather unpleasant surprise as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: includes Warrior being a bean again, enjoy :0

After coming back with Sunshine after staying with Little Ditcher and Pearl the oyster barge (// p.s yes, anyone who's a crane or barge is the same in this universe-), Lucille seemed a little bit exhausted, especially since it was nearly winter and the temperature was dropping drastically.

"Captain Star said we can rest now, 'specially since everyone else is out an' he hasn't got anymore jobs fer us at the moment." Sunshine chirped. "Ah.. great." Lucille replied breathlessly.

Then she decided to have a bit of a rest since she figured it wouldn't hurt anyone. So the little switcher closed her eyes and dozed off peacefully. 

-meanwhile in Lucille's dream/flashback-

"Sir? What's going on? What's happening?" asked a younger and frightened Lucille. "This is what war looks like... Just remember, war isn't good, war kills. I have one last order to you as your captain. Be kind, and stay safe." those were her previous captain's last words to her before he disappeared, and eventually passed away due to unknown circumstances. Luckily, the little switcher had the other fleet workers to keep her company... until the building was bombed and many of the workers were either killed by falling debris or smoke inhalation. 

-meanwhile back in the real world-

Lucille woke up from her nightmare with a frightened squeal, followed by hearing a soft knock at her window. She then went to go and see who it was. Judging by the severe concern, it was definitely Warrior. "Are ya alright, Lucille??" he asked. "Er.. I think so." Lucille replied sheepishly. It was almost nighttime and it took a minute for her to notice it. "Well, I'm 'bout to go on garbage detail and such, wanna come? Maybe you can tell me about it.." Warrior offered.

"Er, sounds great." Lucille put her shoes back on before coming outside to greet her friend. "So what's happened? Bad dream?" Warrior asked as he and Lucille walked away from the quayside. "Er.. sort of, it was about World War I a few years ago. Before I worked temporarily at Lucky's I used to work for another fleet. It'd take a miracle for all of them to have survived such a large building fire." Lucille explained sadly. 

Warrior frowned. He knew he'd be pretty shaken up if he suddenly lost all of his friends (including Captain Star) just like that. "Sufferin' stacks... that explains a lot, I'm so sorry, Luce." he said after suddenly going silent. "It's all good now though, I've got Captain Star and you guys." Lucille said thoughtfully.

-meanwhile-

"Ya know, Ten Cents, I've been thinkin'." Sunshine said out loud suddenly. "Yeah? 'Bout what?" Ten Cents replied, walking over. "I dunno if it makes sense, but I think Captain Star seemed kinda.. sad t'day if ya know wot I'm sayin'." Sunshine pointed out. "What..?? Captain Star feeling sad? That's somethin' ya don't see everyday.. if that's the case, I wonder why?" Ten Cents wondered out loud. "Who knows? I jus' hope nothin's happened.." Sunshine was clearly concerned, and so was Ten Cents. Little did they know, they had a reason to be.

A few hours later, Captain Star called his workers for an urgent meeting. "What could it possibly be? More work? It's absolutely freezing!" Top Hat complained. This time however, the others couldn't help but agree, it was perhaps somewhere around 30 degrees due to how cold it was. "Alright, settle down everyone. Now, I have some good news and some bad news. I'll tell you the good news first: another port in Canada was running low on budgets, fortunately I decided to help them out. The bad news is.. they needed to borrow a switcher for a while, and Ten Cents is one of my most reliable workers..." Captain Star explained.

The fleet couldn't believe what they were hearing, especially Ten Cents. This caused an uproar among the tugs, especially the two younger switchers. "All of you settle down for a moment, please!" Captain Star spoke up again, causing most of them to go quiet. "I know this will be hard, believe me. But it's for a really good cause." he explained. "Do ya know when he'll be able ta come back, sir..?" Sunshine asked quietly. "I don't know, but I do know that he won't be gone for a very long time." Captain Star tried to reassure his tugs. 

Most of the fleet were pretty sad at the news, and Sunshine and Lucille especially, but it really hurt Captain Star the most, having to give up his most trusted, not to mention his first switcher, even if it wasn't for that long. 

"Turns out I'm leavin' tomorrow mornin'.. but cheer up you two, I'll ring ya whenever I can, a'ight?" Ten Cents reassured Sunshine and Lucille, to which they both nodded a little. "And don't worry, Lucy, I'll be back soon to bug ya again." Ten Cents teased. "Oh be quiet." Lucille said, unable to hold back a snicker.


	7. Blue Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been three weeks since Ten Cents left Bigg City to go and help out at another port in Canada, and let's just say things have been pretty dull since he'd left. And it only seems to get worse when Christmas nears, luckily, there'll be quite a few surprises in store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's kinda too early/late for Christmas but here you go anyway-

It was December 23rd, and it'd been about three weeks since Ten Cents went to Halifax to help out there. Needless to say, the Star fleet (including Top Hat) always felt like something was missing, mostly because there was. The Z-Stacks however, could care less if Ten Cents was there or not, all that mattered was that the cheeky switcher was out of the way and Captain Zero would take advantage of it. 

In the meantime, it was nighttime and the two youngest switchers, Sunshine and Lucille, were making a couple of fuel deliveries. Interestingly enough, they'd gotten the hang of it over time, yet (seen as they were the youngest) they still both had to be cautious with it being nighttime and all. "Why ya so down, Luce? It's cause Ten Cents is all th'way in Halifax, ain't it?" Sunshine questioned, since he noticed his friend had been a little out of it for a while.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I mean.. I know he'll be back soon and all, but it's been difficult." Lucille pointed out, although she was mostly worried about what the Z-Stacks could possibly do with Ten Cents out of the way. Sunshine understood how she felt, considering he felt the same way. He simply blew some of his blonde hair out of his face, until he heard some familiar footsteps. 'Oh great..' He thought to himself anxiously. 

"Well well well, what do we have 'ere? A couple switchers out and about after dark? Don't seem too safe to me.. and just look at that freezing water, would be a real shame if someone fell in." Zorran said in a sardonic tone. Now the two switchers had every right to be nervous. "Mind your own business, Zorran! We ain't scared, r-right Sunshine?" Lucille said, trying to sound brave. "A-Aye, absolutely..!" Sunshine wasn't sure what to do, except hope someone would be nearby and come help out. "Sure thing, and so says the one who's boyfriend ain't here." Zorran sneered, earning a glare from Lucille.

Secretly, neither of the tugs knew what hypothermia was, or what it did to the human body, and the switchers didn't want to find out. 

They both caught on, however, Zorran grabbed Sunshine's arm, about to let him fall into the dark, freezing water. Considering he'd done this sort of thing before, it didn't do much damage since it wasn't winter, but now that it was, it'd end up becoming a problem. Lucille was just about to take the situation into her own hands, before she heard someone else come over. To her delight, it was Hercules. 

"Hold it right there, Zorran." Zorran almost instantly froze up. "Er, e-evenin' Hercules, how's things?" He asked, trying to mask his nervousness. "I figured you might've had the answer to that, Zorran." Hercules said rather impatiently. "Oh, we'll I'd really like 'ta stay and chat but Captain Zero needs me, I'll see you lot later then." Zorran said quickly, letting go of Sunshine before walking away quickly, and mistakenly causing the young switcher to lose his balance and fall.  
"Sunshine!!" Lucille cried out in concern. Luckily, Hercules knew exactly what to do. "Hold my glasses, m'dear." He said, handing his glasses to Lucille before jumping in after Sunshine. 

Thankfully, Sunshine wasn't that hard to locate, despite the water being almost pitch black, save for the light over the dock. Eventualily however, Hercules came back up, gently setting Sunshine back down. Both of them were absolutely freezing though, considering it was already winter, and even Lucille wasn't wearing short sleeves as usual. "I-I-I'm F-Freezing...!" Sunshine said, sneezing afterwards. "Well let's get the two of you back, before you catch a chill." Lucille didn't hesitate to help both of her friends out. 

-Later-

Needless to say, when the three tugs came back, the others were pretty concerned and confused as to what'd happened. Hercules gladly explained the situation with Zorran poking fun at the young switchers, nearly resulting in Sunshine getting hypothermia as a result. "Well, just be thankful you got there when you did, my boy! Hypothermia is a very critical condition might I add." O.J warned, as he'd witnessed people experiencing it before and it wasn't exactly a pretty sight.

At that moment, the telephone rang. "I'll get it!" Warrior, Top Hat, and Big Mac shouted at once. Needless to say, Top Hat managed to get the phone in the end. "Who might this be?" He asked whoever was on the other line. "What? Don't tell me ya all forgot what I sound like already!" sure enough, it was Ten Cents. "I say, this is rather good timing!" Top Hat said with a bit of a smile. "Well what're ya waitin' for? Let's talk to everyone else, yeah?" Ten Cents said with a laugh. 

"Hi, Ten Cents!" everyone said (almost) at once. "Just wanted to talk to you lot before they call me back out again, everyone's been real nice here, but don't worry, I'll be back before you all know it. Oh, gotta go, they want me back out again." Ten Cents reassured everyone that he was doing fine and would be back in port very soon, although he did sort of get cut off by being told he needed to go back out and continue helping out. 

"Bye, Ten Cents!" O.J and Sunshine chimed at once. "Be safe, m'dear!" Hercules called out from the other side of the room, before the line cut, meaning Ten Cents was busy once again. While the area the tugs stood in was fairly full mostly, it seemed almost empty without Captain Star's first switcher around, especially so close to Christmas. 

-The next day-

It was Christmas Eve, and Ten Cents still wasn't back yet, still though, everyone had jobs to do, but not very many, since it was Christmas Eve and most of the workers in port wanted to get back to their families and spend time with them, except for the Star Fleet that is. While it might've been a sad concept to think about, the fleet really didn't mind, as they mostly saw each other as family in a way. 

Eventually, the evening rolled in, still no sign of Ten Cents. But that didn't stop the fleet from listening to what Captain Star had to tell them. "Alright, listen up everyone!" Captain Star called, immediately getting everyone's attention. "As you're all aware, it's Christmas Eve, and from tonight until next week the entire fleet, myself included, will be off of work. If Ten Cents does return while I'm away, let me know. And I wish you all a very Happy Christmas." Captain Star explained, sounding just a bit more cheerful than last time. It was Christmas after all, and it wouldn't do to sound somewhat miserable like the last few days. 

After a brief moment of silence (mostly out of surprise), a chorus of 'Happy Christmas, Captain Star' came from the workers standing on the quayside. Captain Star smiled to himself before switching off the light in his office and heading home, where he had family waiting.  
"Well lads, now what?" Sunshine piped up after a few minutes of awkward silence. "How about we get inside?" Lucille suggested, shivering a bit as the wind began to pick up again. 

-Inside-

"Now- Warrior, what in blazes are ya doing?" O.J asked as he noticed the larger worker carrying a few boxes into the center of the room. "What? It's Christmas, can't have the place lookin' dull." Warrior remarked with a sheepish smile. The others (for once) couldn't help but nod in agreement. "Hmm.. Can't help but feel as tho' we're missin' somethin' else.." Big Mac said thoughtfully, but Sunshine seemed to catch on quickly. "Aw.. I knew I should've gone out before that last job I had when I had the chance." He was actually planning on getting gifts earlier, but couldn't due to an urgent job he had earlier that day. 

Then, the switcher had an idea. "Hey lads, I'm goin' out for a bit, promise I won't be long!" Sunshine called out before leaving. "Well you be careful now, Sunshine!" O.J called back, to which Sunshine nodded before closing the door.   
After he left, the others got to work decorating the place, making food for the next day, and setting up a Christmas tree. Luckily, Sunshine didn't take more than a couple of hours to get back, although it was pretty late, after midnight at least, which would explain why most of the tugs were already pretty tired. 

Lucille glanced out the window from where she was standing, still nothing. "Well, I'm off to bed." She said suddenly, although she had a bit of a point since it was getting really late now. Eventually, the others went off to bed as well, still impending Ten Cents' arrival, especially since they didn't want the third youngest switcher to miss out on Christmas of all things. 

-The next morning-

The sun was just coming up, yet the others were already awake despite not having any work today, and Lucille had just woken up, although she (like the others) was actually dressed more casually. Before greeting the others though, she stepped outside, only to see a boat in the distance, she instantly knew what that meant.   
Meanwhile, the others were just having a bit of a chat about random things, only to be nearly frightened when Lucille suddenly burst in, talking about seeing a transport vehicle coming into port. "Can it be Ten Cents?" Sunshine questioned, making that his first assumption. "Well, let's find out." O.J suggested. 

Once outside, the boat stopped near the dock to let someone off, sure enough, to the tugs' delight, it was Ten Cents. "Aw, don't tell me you're all here to see me." He said modestly. "Oh shut it, we're just glad to have you back!" Lucille said, throwing her arms around him. Ten Cents returned the favor, but something told both of them that Sunshine (especially) and the others wouldn't leave them alone about it later. 

"Let's head back inside, yeah? There's still plenty to do." Sunshine pointed out, which couldn't have been anymore well said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note, I kinda wanna make a side chapter of Sunshine's not so exciting adventure of achieving gifts for everyone XD

**Author's Note:**

> What did you guys think? Also it's a really early Christmas present for a friend on Quotev.com. :3


End file.
